It was recognized by the present inventor while fishing, that live bait fish when attached by a barb of a conventional fish hook, more often than not, are killed unintentionally by the piercing wound caused by the barb. Furthermore, when the live bait fish is placed on the hook, it is typically attached by inserting the barb into a tail, a back or a mouth. Such attachment, impairs swimming, causing the live bait fish to behave in an unnatural manner so that a target fish is less likely to be attracted to the live bait fish resulting in less fishing success and enjoyment of the sport.
Other ways for holding bait on fish books attempted in the past include attachments such as impaling prongs, clips, clasps, pins, elastomeric members, wires, and others. Such devices are inconvenient to use, unreliable, awkward to apply to an active live bait fish and often impede the natural action of the live bait fish. Furthermore, using such devices causes the live bait fish to die or to be lost prematurely due to poor attachment of the live bait fish to the fish hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,825,174 to Leinonen shows a fish hook with a live bait holder that has an impaling prong that is an integral extension of one end of the fish hook. A live bait fish is impaled on the impaling prong by inserting the impaling prong into the mouth and into the body and vital organs of the live bait fish. The patent teaches that, in addition to the impaling prong, an anchor hook attached to the shank of the fish hook adjacent the bend is necessary to hold the bait fish on the hook by inserting the barb of the anchor hook into the rear end of the bait fish. Unfortunately, however, the Leinonen device suffers a plurality of disadvantages. For example, it is timely and difficult to mount a live bait fish on the bait holder that is lively and jumping around. Also, since the distance between the pointed free end of the impaling prong and the barb of the anchor hook is fixed, the live bait fish is limited in size to fit between the distances mentioned and the bait holder can not be used with any size live bait fish. Furthermore, even when the live bait fish is successfully mounted on the fish hook, it is unlikely that a live bait fish impaled on the device would remain alive after such severe impalement of body organs. Certainly it would not allow natural swimming, rather it would cause the live bait fish to behave unnaturally and less attractive for catching a target fish. Also, the hook is not concealed nor is it positioned to advantageously reliably hook the target fish when it strikes the live bait fish, rather an additional treble hook is necessary for improved hooking purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,661 to Davis shows a live bait fish hook for carrying a live bait fish. A secondary shaft is flexibly interconnected to and extends from the primary shaft of the fish hook and is insertable through the mouth and gill of a live bait fish. A clasp selectively interconnects the primary shaft and a distal point of the secondary shaft to restrict removal of the secondary shaft from the live bait fish. The Davis device has several disadvantages, for example, it certainly would not allow natural swimming, rather it would cause the live bait fish to behave unnaturally and less attractive for catching a target fish. Furthermore, the insertion of the secondary shaft interferes with the natural mouth and gill breathing motion of the live bait fish and it is unlikely that a live bait fish impaled on the device would remain alive for any length of time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,571 to Beck shows a fish hook with live bait holder that uses an elastic strip secured at spaced points to the fish hook and cooperating with the shank to hold live bait such as a minnow. Tension on the bait may be adjusted to keep it on the fish hook by varying the length of the elastic strip. Disadvantages of this device include difficult and insecure attachment of the live bait fish to the fish hook resulting in bait slippage due to inadequate tension adjustment caused by human error when attempting to accommodate live bait fish of varying sizes. Furthermore, elastic degradation over time caused by improper storage, mechanical damage caused by the pointed prongs needed to hold and to adjust the elastic strip, wear and varying environmental operating conditions weaken the elastic strip and contribute to eventual bait loss, particularly during casting.
Accordingly, it becomes clear that there is a great need for a fish hook with a bait holder that receives, holds and secures a live bait fish without causing serious injury to the live bait fish or impairing the natural swimming action of the live bait fish.